


Need Help?

by yoshuji



Series: From the Hardships of Trying to Woo a Best Friend [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Tiny Tiny Bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-21 13:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshuji/pseuds/yoshuji
Summary: Five times Soonyoung tried to help Jihoon and one time Jihoon actually let him.





	Need Help?

**Author's Note:**

> soonhoon happened and i said what i said so here is a cute OS for all of you soonhoonists
> 
> proofreaded by Yleisnotonfire (thank you so much i love you)  
> enjoy!  
> 

The first time Soonyoung happened to help Jihoon was on the day they met. 

Jeonghan had brought Soonyoung at Seungcheol's place, promising him snacks and video games if he came with him — which, honestly, was all that was needed to corrupt the kid and Jeonghan knew that — because 'the more, the merrier' or something along those lines. Jeonghan was just plotting something but, of course, he wouldn't reveal his plans. So they went and Seungcheol introduced his roommate, Jihoon, also known around the campus as the composer Woozi, to Soonyoung, since Jeonghan already knew him. Soonyoung couldn't help but stare because Woozi was someone he really admired for his work.

His Soundcloud page being one of the most shared within the campus, Woozi alias Lee Jihoon was one of the most talented music students, without any doubts. Soonyoung was still a bit surprised to see that Jeonghan knew him and said nothing about it up until today.

However, even if _the_ Woozi was standing just in front of him, Soonyoung felt his chest warming for a whole other reason: Jihoon was the cutest person Soonyoung ever saw. Not that he would say it out loud because first of all, that would be weird on the first meeting, and second of all, he would learn later that in order to conserve his life, he should avoid cooing on Jihoon's cute face.  
Although Jihoon was a bit silent, they were having fun and Soonyoung got well with Seungcheol. They were laughing and playing games and having a good time overall. Soonyoung even had time to brag about his dance team having a showcase in a few weeks. That was until, in the middle of a game, the two elders asked Soonyoung and Jihoon to get glasses in the kitchen. The glasses were located on the upper shelf and no one had to be Einstein to understand that Jihoon needed assistance, seeing that he had to tiptoe to reach the shelf.

"Wait," Soonyoung said with a smile, "I'm going to help you."

Just as he finished his sentence, Jihoon turned sharply and put a hand on his chest, pushing him away.

"I don't need your help, stand back," he spat a bit aggressively.

Soonyoung watched, baffled, as the little guy in front of him struggled to get the glasses. Well, he finally got them, nearly breaking one, and went back to the living room, not even sparing a glance at Soonyoung. The latter shook his head, amused. 

This day, Soonyoung decided that Jihoon was cute, inside and outside.

Later on, when Jeonghan heard about the incident, he told him that Jihoon was quite sensitive when it came to his height.

"Seungkwan used to say: 'mention his height and there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth'," Jeonghan said while looking at his nails, totally unbothered. "I think he's being dramatic but you get the idea."

Definitely cute.

 

The second time took place several months later.

Was it because Soonyoung was a masochist, or only because Jihoon was the cutest thing he ever met, no one will ever know, but they were almost glued to each other. Wherever Jihoon went, Soonyoung followed. And where Soonyoung was, you could see trailing behind a little shadow, none other than Jihoon. Their group of friends were used to the 'Jihoon is answering in the groupchat with Soonyoung's phone' frequent situations. 

This afternoon, Jihoon had to tidy his room because Seungcheol has already lectured him thrice this week, and again this morning. Coincidentally, Soonyoung came to spend some time with Jihoon and suggested to help so that after they could play video games together. 

What was Jihoon going to do? Say no?

Well, he maybe should have because throughout the cleaning session, Soonyoung revealed to be absolutely useless, playing with Jihoon's things instead of really helping. Jihoon rolled his eyes every ten seconds but he let him be, considering Soonyoung was quite happy to recreate famous dramas scenes with his plushies. Soonyoung was in love with them, especially with the very soft white kitty that he would squish while sitting on Jihoon's bed. He would do that every time he was at the shorter's apartment. He even gave him a name, Howoo. And when Jihoon asked about it, Soonyoung explained that it was their two artist names combined because Howoo was their lovechild. Jihoon didn't push any further, not wanting to understand Soonyoung's weirdness and just going back to his business.

The order on the desk was restored, the floor was almost clean, and Soonyoung was unusually silent. Jihoon turned around, wiping imaginary sweat out of his forehead, just in time to see Soonyoung grabbing his notebook, curiosity sprawled all over his face, like a child.

His. Precious. Notebook.

"Don't touch it!"

He had never moved this fast before, but in less time to even say 'oof', the notebook was safe in between his arms. Soonyoung was looking at him, confused, wondering what was in this notebook for his friend to react that way. Jihoon sighed.

"You need to leave," he said in a determined voice.

"What? Jihoon..." Soonyoung's face fell apart. He never meant to upset his friend in any way. He just wanted to help! Well, he got a bit distracted, sure, but don't we usually say it's the thought that counts?

"You're not helping and you're distracting me, just go," Jihoon told him.

Soonyoung lowered his head, taking his things. Jihoon watched him for a while, before knitting his eyebrows, following him.

"Where are you going?" he asked when Soonyoung was near the front door.

"You told me to leave," pouted Soonyoung.

"No! I meant leaving my room, not leaving _me_!"

Jihoon suddenly blushed at his own words and tried to formulate his sentence again:  
"I-I mean, you can go in the living room to watch something while you wait for me, or go to the kitchen, you know you can eat whatever you want in the left placard."

Soonyoung's smile bloomed again on his lips and Jihoon averted his eyes, not able to handle the amount of cuteness.

 

The third time happened, again, months later.

They were now inseparable, attached by the hip, whatever expression you want to use, best friends. They were invited to a party and Jeonghan had been endlessly nagging at Jihoon about his clothes that he had already seen and seen again, saying that the boy needed a few new items in his wardrobe.

It somehow landed in Soonyoung's ears and the latter was now begging Jihoon to let him help with the shopping.

"Please, I promise I'll be nice!" whined Soonyoung, crouching in front of Jihoon, almost on his knees.

Jihoon looked at him, already annoyed. "I don't need you."

"I swear, I'll be helpful and...and...and I promise I'll be your motivation! Please Jihoonie, please∼!"

The shorter rolled his eyes. Soonyoung was really ready to beg for it. "You're such a baby," he deadpanned.

Soonyoung's eyes lit up and he stood on his feet with a gigantic smile."Thank you Jihoonie!"

"Yeah, whatever. Don't make me regret it though."

"You won't!"

Well. Jihoon was kind of regretting it because Soonyoung was being an excited kid, bouncing in the alleys, picking up too many clothes for Jihoon to try on. But mostly, they were just too fancy.

"A crop top?!"

"Listen, you would look super c-... I mean sassy... Sexy! Sexy in it!"

"Are you kidding me Kwon Soonyoung?"

"I'm not! Go and try it on!"

Jihoon found himself thrown into a cabin, sighing heavily while taking off his clothes. A few minutes later, he peeked his head out of the curtain, uncertain.

"This really doesn’t suit me," he grumbled while looking at the floor.

"Oh, why? Are you sure? Show me."

"No, I'm not gonna show you!" yelled back Jihoon, flustered.

"Why not?" pouted Soonyoung.

"Because...because it's ugly on me, I don't even know why I agreed to do this in the first place, it's just ridicul-"

Jihoon stopped himself when the curtain was snatched from his grip and Soonyoung was now looking at him with a stupid smile plastered on his face. Jihoon was _blushing_.

"What the hell Soonyoung?!" he shouted in embarrassment.

"Wow," whispered the other. "You're..."

"What?"

"It suits you Jihoon."

The blush deepened while the boy tried to find something to say, jumbling with the words. "Wha... W-Whatever you're saying," deadpanned Jihoon before pulling the curtain.

"Ayy Jihoonie.. Trust me on this one!"

"I shall never trust you," came Jihoon's, obviously embarrassed, voice from behind the curtain.

The shorter boy finally reappeared in the outfit he came with, putting the ton of clothes in Soonyoung's arms. His face was back to the usual.

"You go and put all that back where you found it. Then, _you_ will follow _me_."

"But Ji-"

"From now on, you're not authorized to talk, give your opinion, make any noise, annoy me. Am I clear?"

Soonyoung nodded, pouting.

"Good. Now let's go."

The next half an hour they had spent in the shop was a full-fledged torture for Soonyoung who couldn't say anything. He had to silently watch Jihoon pick basic tees, basic pants, basic everything, and he, of course, already had similar clothes in his closet.

When Jihoon had to pay, he sent Soonyoung to get them some ice creams, the latter happily complying. Once he made sure Soonyoung was gone, he swiftly put the crop-top within the pile of clothes he was buying. He was almost rushing the poor employee, too afraid to get caught by Soonyoung. Then, Jihoon put his best 'nothing happened' face on and got out of the store, meeting his best friend outside.

 

The fourth time, they were in a park near Jihoon's apartment. 

The sun was shining brightly on them, a slight breeze brushing through the blades of grass. It was a miracle that Soonyoung succeeded in dragging the other in an open space, but here they were: Jihoon sat against a tree, Soonyoung laid on a thin blanket, his head on his friend's lap, playing with a flower he picked up a while ago.

"What about: 'I think about you day and night, I love you with all my might'. Doesn't it rhyme?"

Jihoon hummed in acknowledgement before scribbling on his notebook. The famous notebook Soonyoung was not allowed to read. Jihoon had an assignment and of course, Soonyoung proposed to help, with the lyrics at least. This time he wasn't allowed anywhere near the studio for God knew what reason.

"It's kind of cheesy, Soon."

That was his new nickname. Soonyoung was surprised that Jihoon came up with a nickname, a cute one above that, but he wasn't going to complain.

"I'm not cheesy. Vernon is cheesy. With Seungkwan. And Mingyu is cheesy. With Wonwoo. Me, I'm not cheesy."

"Sure," said Jihoon with a smirk.

"You know, I could help you more if you made me listen to the demo you already have..."

"No thanks."

"Why not?"

"You'll hear it when it's done."

The dancer sighed heavily, making a few brown hair strands fly a little above his forehead. But he was quick to find his smile back, suggesting other ideas.

"Okay, what about you write something about the sky?"

"About the sky?" repeated a skeptical Jihoon.

"Yeah! People always write songs about love, what about the sky? Always above our heads, doing its job and yet, no one is thankful for it."

"You’re aware that this is for an assignment, right?"

"Of course, I do! Aish, just be grateful, I'm helping you and my great ideas will make you top your class."

"Sure, Soonyoung. Sure," sighed his friend.

"Look, the sky witnessed so many things, first bird's flight, planes, rockets... Oh! Star Wars!"

Jihoon rolled his eyes, knowing what would come next. The boy was so easy to get distracted.

"Ah, I really want to see Star Wars though," pouted the dancer. "I wanted to go with Hansol, but you can bet he already went with Seungkwan without telling me."

The composer tried to focus on his work, not listening to Soonyoung rambling. But it was hard to ignore someone literally laid on your lap.

"They always do things like that without me, I thought we were friends! Bros before hoes and everything. Not that Seungkwan is a hoe, but we're supposed to be pals! What about BooSeokSoon uh? It should be BooSeokSoon before ‘Seungkwan and his boyfriend Hansol’. Don't you think so?"

"Hmm," responded Jihoon, scribbling his notebook.

"Seriously... Since they started dating it's like they forgot I even exist. Seokmin is always with Shua hyung and I'm on my own," he whined again. "Even Wonwoo, my comrade, is missing. He’s probably messing with Mingyu but...yeah. The same goes for my dance team, they all went missing. You're all I have left Jihoonie∼. How sad!"

"Hmm."

"Not that I'm sad having you! It's just that I feel like I have lost all of my crew, ugh what do I do Jihooni-"

"Soonyoung."

The dancer raised his eyes to meet the composer sharp gaze.

"You're annoying. I have to tell you to shut up."

Soonyoung pouted even more. "How mean of you Jihoonie. I was trying to help you write the song!"

"You being silent is what would really help me."

The dancer kept sulking for a few seconds before a smile started to glow on his face. Jihoon looked at him, annoyed.

"What again?"

"You don't want me to talk but you don't mind me staying here... It's because you like my cuddles uh?" he asked while shifting to hug Jihoon's waist in his arms, giggling. "It's okay Jihoonie, you can say so..."

"If you don't shut the hell up—"

"Okay, okay sorry! I'll shut up."

 

The fifth time, they were actually in Jihoon's apartment. 

It was just a few days later, Jihoon had been stressed because of his assignment and Soonyoung really wanted to do something about it. That was why he got up early this morning and went to his best friend's place to try and cheer him up, a shopping bag full of grocery he had bought with his roommate's, aka Mingyu, help.

Jihoon opened the door, with tired eyes and a frown on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked while going back to his room.

Soonyoung followed quickly after closing the front door behind him. "I'm here to help with your mood. Don't mind me, I'll let you work okay? I'll just be in the kitchen."

Jihoon didn't bother to answer, he just went straight up to resuming his tasks. He was eagerly sensitive, Soonyoung could very much feel it. Usually, no one would want to be around the music student when he was in this kind of mood. Even Seungcheol made sure to avoid him because Jihoon's snaps were pretty memorable and sometimes hurtful. Soonyoung wasn't afraid of it, he could say without a doubt that he knew Jihoon better than anyone else, making him the most capable to handle him.

Soonyoung started to set things up, getting ready to make pancakes for his favorite composer. It wasn't Jihoon's favorite dish, but he was pretty sure that he did not have any proper breakfast so this would be a good start.

Sadly, Soonyoung was a very, very distracted young man. So while waiting for his sixth pancake to bake, he decided to search some ideas for his current choreography. Unfortunately, he ended up forgetting about the pancake and the smoke of the burnt pancake started to spread through the kitchen and in the rest of the apartment. Of course, the fire alarm went off, startling Soonyoung.  
Soonyoung jumped in surprise before realizing what was happening and hurrying to turn off the stove, throwing the pan into the sink before opening the window.

"What the hell Soonyoung?!"

Jihoon's voice resounded behind him, while the dancer hopped on a chair, turning the alarm off. He let out a sigh when the silence came back in the kitchen, his nose scrunched up because of the burnt smell. Jihoon was near the sink, pouring water in the pan. He had his head lowered, not saying a word. Soonyoung slowly got back on the ground, worried.

"Jihoon I'm sorr-"

"Get out of my house," he said with a stern voice.

Soonyoung blinked, not sure to have heard it right. "Ji I was just trying to help, listen..."

"I don't. Need. Your help!" snapped the black-haired boy. "Can't you understand? I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help, I just need to be alone! Gosh, is this too much to ask for?"

Soonyoung stared silently at him. His messy black hair, his uneven breath, his blood-injected eyes due to the fatigue. Of course, it was too much to ask. Seeing Jihoon like this hurt Soonyoung deeply. Not getting any sleep, any food and constantly on the verge of crying, on the edge of falling apart due to the stress. The sight was breaking his heart. But he couldn't force Jihoon to do anything.

"Okay," he simply said.

Jihoon looked at him, a little surprised. He wasn't expecting it to be this easy. He was already picturing shouts and tears but none of these was happening. Soonyoung just gathered his stuff and then headed for the door.

"Just so you know, I'm here if you need anything."

And then he left.

 

They did not talk to each other for almost a week. Soonyoung forced Seungcheol to get out of Jeonghan's house to sneak into his own apartment to see if Jihoon was okay. Unfortunately, the composer had been out of sight since the outburst in the kitchen. He was in his studio all day and all night too. No one dared to disturb him, Seungcheol just dropping food in front of his door every day. Soonyoung knew he had to go there to see him and that’s because he knows Jihoon. He was acting all tough and everything, but he was stressed, and he needed to be showered with love and care. Soonyoung cared about him. And Soonyoung loved him. More than anything. But Jihoon also needed some space and Soonyoung needed the right timing.

The right timing came in the evening. Something in Soonyoung's heart told him to get up from his bed where he spent the last few days crying and watching movies and crying again to the point where Mingyu was desperate. He got dressed and was now heading to the studio. He got there in no time, sticking his ear to the door, trying to hear something. However, the studio was soundproof, so it was pretty useless. Soonyoung sighed, trying to open the door. At his very much surprise, the studio wasn't locked. He entered slowly in the dark room, only illuminated by the computer screen. He closed the door behind him then came closer to the desk. A silhouette was sitting on the chair.  
Jihoon had his head buried in his arms that were resting on the desk. He slowly raised his head when Soonyoung came closer, removing his headphones. His face was pale, heavy purple bags underlining his eyes. He looked like a mess, his body engulfed in a big sweater that Soonyoung recognized as the one he left at the shorter's apartment a while ago. His heart clenched. Soonyoung gave him a small but warm smile.

And like that, Jihoon started crying. He got up from his seat to fall in Soonyoung's arms, wailing and muttering 'i'm sorry's in his coat.

"It's okay Jihoonie, it's okay."

But Jihoon couldn't seem to calm down. Soonyoung sighed inwardly, relieved that the boy was out of his stubbornness. He stroked Jihoon's hair, kissing his forehead from times to times, letting him get all of his bottled emotions out.

"I'm so sorry, Soonyoung, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"Shh, Jihoonie. You don't have to worry about it. It's over."

"I am so tired," whispered the other.

Soonyoung breathed slowly, his hand tenderly tugging at Jihoon's black strands. He waited until Jihoon's breathing started matching his own, confirming that the boy was completely relaxed.

"My poor baby. Why would you overwork yourself like that," he mumbled in his hair as Jihoon sniffled. "Let's go home, shall we?"

Jihoon nodded, yawning. "I missed you," he whispered, looking at Soonyoung.

"Yeah?" Soonyoung smiled. "You missed my genius lyrics ideas, didn't you?"

The giggle he received in response made his heart flutter. Soonyoung waited near the door, Jihoon still gathering his things. He then made his way to Soonyoung, his hands full of notebooks and his bag, looking alternatively between the zip of his coat and his best friend. The dancer immediately got the message, bending slightly to close Jihoon's vest.

"Thank you," he muttered. "For coming to get me and... helping me with my coat," he said with red cheeks.

Soonyoung smiled, his eyes slanted. "Anytime, Jihoonie."

On the way home, Soonyoung felt a hand interlacing his own and he smiled, squeezing it gently. 

"I love you."

It was so low of a whisper that Soonyoung could’ve thought he had imagined it but, again, he knew Jihoon way too well.

"I love you too," he said back, his heart getting warm.

**Author's Note:**

> hi again! so this is actually my first english fanfic ever and i was so stressed about it adkskdk i hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> i would like to thank again the best beta-reader ever, please, go check her profile she loves to write soonhoon's angst and sometimes some fluff: [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yleisnotonfire/pseuds/Yleisnotonfire)
> 
> hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/yoshujie)!
> 
> thank you so much for reading, see you next time!


End file.
